Sorry to offend anyone but my beef w/ this whole issue is that I am seeing more and more pts who pick and choose when they want to be treated like pts and when they want to be 'paying customers who feel its ok to be waited on 24/7, I understand controlling noise level around others, nights or not, but its a slippery slope when people start forgetting what a hospital's are for (to get better) not to have a jug of ice water 3/4 filled w/ ice and the rest water and heaven forbid that there's too much ice... Or what about those pts who insist on staff putting signs on their doors saying 'do not interrupt between 11pm and 7am' really,this is a ******* hospital and you'll probably be the pt who turns around and sues bc your potassium level was 2.5 and had an arrhythmia but was refusing to get labs rechecked at 4am...hospitals aren't hotels bottom line, it's not pleasant and you shouldn't like being there more than your own home

Have you, or your family member, ever stayed in the hospital as a patient? I stayed in the hospital for about 2 weeks a couple of years ago. It was the worst place for me to get rest because my vital signs were being checked Q4H, in addition to being woken up for medications, blood work, etc. I understood that those things were medically necessary for my well-being. You standing outside of my room at the nurses' station carrying on in a loud voice and laughing loudly isn't medically necessary for me to heal.

It's one thing to break your back for patients because of the push towards treating them as "customers", but I learned when I was about five years-old to talk with an "inside voice" and what it means to be respectful of people around me (including those who are sleeping). That's common courtesy. There's a big difference.

Generalizing quiet and respectful employees on night shift as "always sleeping" and "disoriented", like another poster did, (and presuming that being loud = being alert) is a dangerous and slippery slope.

Maybe that 'Big Mouth' nurse you were referring to at the nurses station was trying her best to keep herself awake bc she not only works nights but has 2 small children she must 'watch' during the day when she should be sleeping, and IMO I'd much prefer a laughing nurse than one who's fast asleep at the computer and not able to safely care for her patients, or maybe that 'Big Mouth' was blowing off steam bc she just lost a patient and was trying to handle that stress, nurses are human and just bc they're awake at night when the rest of the world is sleeping doesn't mean they have to play dead so people don't miss out on their beauty sleep, I do agree w/ being respectful of noise levels, you do have to realize its not a hotel and things are moving 24/7, yes even when you're trying to sleep

I'm usually a big advocate for supporting your fellow nurse, allowing nurses to vent in a safe place (here) and expecting the best of our colleagues. And yes, I'll cut a colleague some slack if she's been less than 100% charming to me because she may have things going on at home that are stressing her out. Most complaints about "the nurse was mean to me" or "rude nurses" involve someone who takes offense too easily over something that wasn't that big of a deal in the first place. But this post is blasting posters for advocating for PATIENTS who need to sleep. And patients do need to sleep. I'm really sorry for the nurse who has child care issues and cannot sleep at home, but nevertheless we need to be mindful that night time is the only time patients are free from interruptions for long enough to actually get some sleep. There's no excuse for being loud in the nurse's station.

That comment about nurses having to play dead so people don't miss out on their beauty sleep is offensive. I'm sorry Idislikecodebrowns is so angry about working night shift, but let's be considerate of out PATIENTS.

Maybe that 'Big Mouth' nurse you were referring to at the nurses station was trying her best to keep herself awake bc she not only works nights but has 2 small children she must 'watch' during the day when she should be sleeping, and IMO I'd much prefer a laughing nurse than one who's fast asleep at the computer and not able to safely care for her patients, or maybe that 'Big Mouth' was blowing off steam bc she just lost a patient and was trying to handle that stress, nurses are human and just bc they're awake at night when the rest of the world is sleeping doesn't mean they have to play dead so people don't miss out on their beauty sleep, I do agree w/ being respectful of noise levels, you do have to realize its not a hotel and things are moving 24/7, yes even when you're trying to sleep

Ehhh......but I think it's still important to consider volume. I'm starting on a new unit and just started orienting on nights and I've been pretty shocked at how loud certain staff members can be. It's not everyone, and certain mixes of people seem to be louder than others, but I've been pretty surprised at how loud it can get. Like, hanging out at the bar telling jokes and trying to be heard over music loud. Cackling laughter and foot stomping. People talking over each other.

I think there's got to be a happy medium between expecting hotel-like silence and hooting and hollering like you're at a backyard barbeque.

And the sick ICU patients care because??? I understand nurses are human. However, I still don't think it is appropriate to be talking at the top of your voice at night. I've seen ICU psychosis due to sleep deprivation. It is not a pretty sight. One of the things we strived to do in ICU was to keep noise to a minimum. We cannot control pumps, doors closing and etc. but we can control the volume in our voice.

Maybe that 'Big Mouth' nurse you were referring to at the nurses station was trying her best to keep herself awake bc she not only works nights but has 2 small children she must 'watch' during the day when she should be sleeping, and IMO I'd much prefer a laughing nurse than one who's fast asleep at the computer and not able to safely care for her patients, or maybe that 'Big Mouth' was blowing off steam bc she just lost a patient and was trying to handle that stress, nurses are human and just bc they're awake at night when the rest of the world is sleeping doesn't mean they have to play dead so people don't miss out on their beauty sleep, I do agree w/ being respectful of noise levels, you do have to realize its not a hotel and things are moving 24/7, yes even when you're trying to sleep

I personally dislike when co-workers at talking extremely loud at the nursing station at night. I don't even like it during the day. There is enough noise in the hospital, we don't need the additional noise from a nurse that cannot control his/her volume. It is not the patients fault if you are sleepy or have other responsibilities at home. Your job is to control your volume. When I worked nights in ICU with a loud coworker, we had to gently remind her of "sleep protocol". The patients started to complain, which is why we all had to be sure we weren't talking loud.

One of our most ridiculous budget cuts is when of my dementia unit residents ask for a snack, I am to tell them the kitchen is closed (I am told the facility can't afford snacks but just built a whole brand new rehab) I don't adhere to that. If I resident asks me for some food I am getting them a snack damn it. It's absurd. We also are not allowed to give them tissues boxes that our facility bought for the cars so if they have a runny nose we are to call their POA to bring them a box. We are only allowed to give them single tissues until a box is brought. It's assisted living so apparently the 5k rent they pay per month does not cover tissue boxes.

Don't blame newbie nurses for taking lower pay just because you have been insulted by two companies. There are too many nurses and not enough jobs as I am sure you know and many of us have babies and houses to support so $17/hour is better than $7.95 down the road at McDonald's.

BTW- if you're a new grad and reading this, stop taking $17-18 an hour and considering that "good money." You're not only hurting yourself, you are hurting the rest of us as well.

I made significantly more than that as a new grad, but that's because the going rate in my area was higher than that. I had 0 room to negotiate and was running out of time I could afford being unemployed. It's not really fair to blame the individual for something that is a structural problem, frustrating as it is to see the effect it has on the wider profession.

These kind of posts amaze me.
If any young, new nurse writes a post stating that a bunch of old, crotchety nurses are mean to them, well then they get ripped a new one. But when its the other way around....hey...its ok.

I've noticed its popular to be judgemental of newer nurses on this forum. But never to older ones.

There is nothing wrong with being a new nurse who is excited to take care of patients and have a great personality. Just my two cents.

I see it here on AN (see: LPN/ADNs bashing people with more education, etc. etc.)

*** I was with you until I read this. What suprises me is that I am a frequient AN reader and poster. Pretty much every day I am on AN now that I get it on my phone. I read dozens of posts here every day and I never see what you describe above. I will see ADNs returning fire when they have been attacked for being uneducated or lacking proper preperation for "professional" nursing. Funny how two different people will see things so differently. I was convinced that you were right in the OP and that you were dealing with an oversenstive nurse. Now I am not so sure that your side of the story is the accurate one.